In an analytical piece about how the Golden State Warriors are using Jordan Bell as a small ball center, Jonathan Tjarks relays an anecdote about how the number of traditional bigs in the NBA will continue to decline.

"There’s a positive feedback loop happening with small ball: The more teams play it, the less valuable every traditional 5 in the league becomes," writes Tjarks. "I talked to one executive who thinks the number of big men in the NBA will be cut in half by 2020. Every team will soon be looking for its own version of Jordan Bell, if they aren’t already."

The Warriors acquired the draft rights to Bell from the Bulls, who fell to the second round. 

"The irony is that Bell is exactly the type of big man those teams need against Golden State," writes Tjarks. "He wouldn’t be as successful with less offensive talent around him, but a player with his skill set is inherently valuable."

The Warriors have a net rating of +14.9 when Bell has played this season, which is the fourth best mark on the team.

The Sacramento Kings will sit at least two of their veterans for the remainder of the season as they begin to emphasize the development of their younger players. That list of veterans includes George Hill, Kosta Koufos, Garrett Temple, Vince Carter and Zach Randolph.

Dave Joerger said as many as three veterans could sit in some games.

“It’s not an easy conversation,” Joerger said. “They’re very professional, they’re competitive. All of them are rotation players on a playoff team. So to ask those guys to step aside at different times is not enjoyable for me. They handled it well, they’ve been pros.”

The Kings are prioritizing their long-term plans.

“I’m excited to see where De’Aaron Fox is 24 months from now,” Joerger said. “You get in the middle of his third season and you just keep plugging away. Sometimes fans just want to hear the short view. That’s the long view and that’s what we’re trying to do by doing this.”

Karl-Anthony Towns was trained by his father to work on a guard's ballhandling and shooting work first before moving onto big man's footwork and post-up drills.

“When I was growing up everyone told me how they thought I should play the game of basketball, which was never the way I wanted to play it,” Towns said. “I played the game the way I wanted. Back to the basket, the traditional big man, I didn’t want to be that. I wanted to be able to play like Magic Johnson, who was 6-9, ran the court and shot like a point guard.”

With the Lakers drafting No. 2 behind Minnesota, John Calipari suggested he might be better off going to Los Angeles.

“You know what he said?” Calipari said. “He said, ‘I don’t care about L.A. I want to be the No. 1 pick. I’ll wear a coat. I’m good.’ That’s who he is.”

Towns has big goals both on and off the court.

“I want to win rings, I want to win multiple rings,” he said. “I want to do all these things, but I want to be able to say I used my platform and this game of basketball to help others and make their lives better. I want to be able to say I’ve done more off the court than I’ve done on the court, and if I’m able to do that when my career is over and I can look back with my kids someday, I’ll definitely say I’m proud of myself and proud of the way I left the game.”

The Raptors continue to be one of the NBA's best success stories this season. Dwane Casey was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for December following an 11-3 record.

The Raptors have one of the deepest teams in the league.

“Guys understand their roles, they’re filling their roles,” Casey said before the game. “We've got a lot of guys who are similar talents but different skill sets. We can use them at different junctures of the game and that’s good to have. … A lot of (similarly talented) players, different skill sets.”

One element the Raptors use that is unique is effectively playing a pair of backup point guards on the floor together in Delon Wright and Fred VanVleet.

“You’ve got to give credit to the coaching staff to say it doesn’t have to be either/or,” VanVleet said.

“We’ve seen it since training camp, them two going out there playing together and the dynamic that they bring, the toughness that they bring,” added DeMar DeRozan. “It shows. We love it. We’ve got to come up with a nickname. I’m gonna come up with a nickname for Delon and Freddy, for sure.”

“It’s great. Fred brings you one element of toughness, physicality, I thought he was a good matchup the other night and then there’s nights when Delon comes in, his creativity with the basketball, his passing out of situations brings another,” Casey said. “At the end of the day, you still got to be a scorer. We’ve had some games where it’s been what, 14, 13, 16 (points) whatever in the fourth quarter. We still have to be able to score when the game is on the line.”